Toronto Maple Leafs goaltending prospect, Ian Scott announced his retirement from hockey today, at only 23-years-old.
With the 110th overall selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Ian Scott seemed like a potential steal for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
At 6-foot-3, Scott had great size and great potential because one year after being drafted, he turned into one of the best goaltending prospects in the world.
During the 2018-19 season, Scott posted a .923 SV% and 1.83 GAA and eventually led his Prince Albert Raiders to a WHL championship. Not only that, but he was named MVP of the playoffs, recording five shutouts en-route to that title.
Everything was going great for Scott.
He got drafted to the most popular franchise in hockey, won a junior hockey championship and even represented Team Canada at the 2019 World Junior Championship’s. Then, an unfortunate injury and surgey sidelined his career.
Toronto Maple Leafs Prospect Ian Scott Retires at 23 Years Old
On December 19th, 2019, the Toronto Marlies announced that Scott had “undergone successful hip surgery to correct ongoing issues related to impingement.” (via: marlies.ca)
That injury was supposed to keep him out of the rest of the season, but he was expected back for next year’s training camp. However, things didn’t seem to progress as expected, as Scott only appeared in six professional games since that surgery.
Hip injuries, especially as a goaltender, are so hard to deal with. Your entire job is to push from side-to-side and if your hips aren’t working at 100 percent, you’re not only going to get scored on a lot, but you’re going to feel continuous pain.
As a result, after such a hard time of battling back and trying to make the NHL, Scott announced on his Instagram that he’s retiring from hockey, stating the following:
Many thought that Scott was the future starting goaltender for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but unfortunately that’s not going to be a reality now. Health is more important than hockey and hopefully Scott can stay in hockey (if he wishes) in a different capacity and put his tremendous skills to good use.
Good luck to Scott and his future endeavors.